Pirates of the Caribbean

An Independent article on Pirates of the Caribbean

GENRE – CULT


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“Pirates of the Caribbean” was originally created as a theme park ride for Walt Disneyworld/ Disneyland; years later it has been turned into a major motion picture trilogy starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Geoffrey Rush.

The idea for the ride was conceived in the 1950’s and was originally intended to be a wax museum featuring various different pirates from history. Eventually the idea evolved into an indoor boat ride through an adventure featuring skeletons, battles, burning buildings, animatronics, catchy music and water flumes. It is one of the darkest rides featured in the parks along with phantom manor (which was also turned into a feature film starring Eddie Murphy) and since its creation has established a cult following for itself. The ride is featured in California’s Disneyland, Florida’s The Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Tokyo and Disneyland Paris; it was also the very last attraction Walt Disney oversaw himself. The characters where created by Mark Davis and the musical score for the ride was written by George Bruns and Xavier Atencio.

The grand opening for the ride took place on March 18th 1967 and quickly became one of the most popular attractions featured in the park and was Disney’s largest audio-animatronics project to date. The ride was never intended to feature at Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort, originally a similar ride entitled Western River Expedition, which would have featured Cowboys and Indians rather than Pirates, was planned, however due to complaints received another version of the ride was released in Florida on December 15th 1973. The ride was also featured on the opening days of both Disneyland Tokyo and Disneyland Paris.

There have been many changes to the ride since its conception, especially since the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean feature films, however the original attraction was by far the best. The ride starts as a casual boat ride and opens with a narrator speaking in a traditional pirate voice; this then leads into the sound of a waterfall.
Riders then plunge down the waterfall where at the bottom they can hear the cheery theme tune for the ride (Yo Ho, Ho, Ho, a Pirate’s life for me) which leads into a dark cavern where the echoing voice can be heard "Dead men tell no tales!"
The ride then features a second plunge down into the depths of a dark, sinister pirate grotto with the skeletons of various pirates guarding their treasure. The ride then moves into a storm where an old pirate ship can be seen driven by a skeleton; then the boat passes by some skeletons playing chess and into a huge treasure room, featuring the Aztec chest featured in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”.

In later years a waterfall projection of Davy Jones, as featured in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”, was added to the ride in which visitors pass through without getting wet. Several more changes where made to the attraction to make the theme of the ride more relative to the film trilogy; wax figures of Captain Barbossa and Captain Jack Sparrow (featured several times throughout the ride) where added to the line up.

The ride then moves into a fierce battle between two ships, featuring cannonballs whistling overhead, puffs of air from the canons and explosions in the water. Guests then see a wide range of pirates drinking and laughing, along with scenes of town’s women being sold as brides and a man being drowned in the local well. The town is then set on fire and riders move onto a jail where prisoners can be seen trying to coax a small dog, holding the keys to the cell in its mouth, with a bone. This scene became famous particularly amongst young children and was thus featured in the first movie.

Due to the fact that there are different variations of the ride in different theme parks and that many modifications have been made over the years it is hard to pinpoint exactly what happens throughout the ride however I do remember that the ride finished with the narrator speaking through a talking skull, informing riders of how to exit the boat; at the exit of the ride is a gift shop featuring a wide variety of pirate orientated products. The original ride held a capacity of 3,400 guests per hour and required 750,000 gallons of water! It also featured 122 audio-animatronics.

Aside from the modifications added since the release of the film trilogy several more where made. One of the more famous scenes, which featured pirates chasing beautiful girls around in circles and a pirate being chased by an overweight woman, was changed due to customer complaints. The overweight woman was given a rolling pin and the women where given pies to make it appear as if the pirates where chasing the pies rather than the women. Later on the overweight woman’s rolling pin was changed to a stolen ham. Another original feature in the ride was an overweight pirate exhausted from his unsuccessful attempt to catch an unwilling woman, who was seen hiding in a barrel. This scene was changed in different theme parks however the original version remains at Disneyland Paris and Tokyo. In one version the pirate’s dialogue changed and the woman was replaced by a cat, in another the woman is given a treasure chest to make it appear as if the pirate was chasing the treasure, not the woman. These changes sparked much controversy in the world of Disney.

Disney has been associated with pirates for a long time especially since the release of “Peter Pan” featuring the infamous Captain Hook. Given the nature of the ride and its popularity, it is easy to see why “Pirates of the Caribbean” has such a huge following. Millions of children from all over the world travel to different theme parks to experience the wonders of the ride. Given the fact that it opened in 1967, it is nearly impossible to count the number of children that must have had their lives touched by the ride at some point in their lives. The attraction stands out in itself; I actually loved it as a child and was fascinated by pirates and their lifestyle for a good few years after visiting Disneyland Paris. All over the world are millions upon millions of adults and children who have visited the parks at some point in their lives and fallen in love with “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

My mother and I visited Disneyland Paris/ Euro Disney on the year of its opening; the park’s attractions seemed much more elaborate than they are now; for one, the fireworks displays where much closer to public view than they are now, they probably changed due to safety restrictions. When I first went on the ride I was terrified, the skeletons and the eeriness of the whole atmosphere made me apprehensive to go on the ride, however once I had been on it once I loved it and wanted to go on it over and over again. Years after my first visit to Disneyland “Pirates of the Caribbean” was the main attraction that stuck out in my mind the most. It is easy to see why it has a cult following and why feature films where made around the theme of the ride. The ride featured a long queue through caverns and caves and was so popular that Disney had to extend and separate the queue to avoid people clogging the walkway.

In 2003, the first of three films was released entitled “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”, a phenomenally successful film amongst children and adults alike featuring a star cast of characters, amazing special effects and a combination of supernatural and comedy. A sequel was released on July 7th 2006 entitled “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” and on May 25th 2007 a third film was released entitled “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”.

Johnny Depp won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Jack Sparrow and “Dead Man’s Chest” won an Oscar for best special effects. So far the trilogy has gone on to gross over $2.6 Billion dollars worldwide.

“Pirates of the Caribbean” has been around since 1967 and will probably be around for a very, VERY long time to come. It’s characters are loved all over the world and as long as the rides still stand, it will entertain many generations of children for many years ahead.